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2 The focus of this paper, using the resource-based view, is on integration of HRM in the firm s business strategies is the determinant of sustainable competitive advantage. Change is the law of nature. Nothing is permanent in this turbulent environment except change. Changing business environment is characterised by all-pervasive change and everincreasing competition. Ultimate success of any organisation depends on achievement and maintenance of competitive advantage. The competitive advantage is said to be sustained when other firms are unable to duplicate the benefits of the strategy (Barney 1991). Thus sustainable competitive advantage is imperative to generate profit above industry average for long period of time. One of the most prominent and widely respected researchers in the area of competitiveness is Michael Porter. According to Porter (1998), a firm s competitiveness refers to the competitive advantage over its rivals in a particular industry. A firm has competitive advantage when it is able to differentiate itself in the marketplace, generates greater revenues and operates at lower costs than its competitors. In addition innovation the application of new ideas to the products, processes or any other aspects of firm s activities has become one of the key drivers for firms to operate profitably and compete sustainably in the globally linked economies. Porter and Stern (2002) asserted that firms operating in advanced nations whose economies were innovation-based would not obtain sustained competitive advantage if they were not able to create and then commercialize new products and processes and shift the technology frontier as fast as their rivals can catch up. This implies that innovation is a key to obtaining a sustained competitive advantage. The resource based view suggests that HR system can contribute to sustained competitive advantage through facilitating the development of competencies that are firm specific. The ways people manage are the soft side of business and often hard but sometimes not even possible to copy. The reason being success comes from managing people effectively is often not visible or transparent. 324

3 The resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1986, 1991, 1995) proposed that firms could create and obtain sustained competitive advantage by creating value in a fashion that is rare and impossible for rivals to imitate. The resource-based view of the firm argues that conventional sources such as natural resources, technology, economies of scale, operational and manufacturing designs etc., can be utilized to generate sustained competitive advantage, yet these sources can be easily copied by competitors. In this case, any sources of sustained competitive advantage that cannot be easily imitated are especially important. According to resource-based view people (human resources), a repository of knowledge and skills, can be leveraged to create value in a way that is difficult for competitors to imitate (Barney, 1991). People are the strategic assets meaning the set of difficult to trade and imitate, scarce, appropriable, and specialized resources and capabilities that bestow the firm s competitive advantage (Amit & Shoemaker, 1993, p. 36). Ultimately people, a repository of knowledge and skills, are the most valuable and necessary asset for any firm to compete and generate competitive advantage (Barney & Wright, 1998; Gorman, Nelson, & Glassman, 2004; Lopez- Cabrales, Valle & Herrero,2006, Shee & Pathak, 2005, Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994). Strategically speaking, a firm may have a great strategic plan in place, yet it means nothing if its people lack access to appropriate and relevant knowledge, skills, and attitudes to successfully support or carry out the strategic plan. Since people are the core driver of successful strategy implementation, it is vital for those, especially top management and executive teams, who plan and formulate strategy to realize that having their employees armed with appropriate knowledge and skills is a key element for successful strategy implementation. Now we are in the age of knpweledge Porter (2000) stresses that firms operating in the knowledge-based economy become more and more dependent on the skills and knowledge of their workers.thus right type of people is the key to successful formulation & implementation of strategy that is imperative to sustainable competitive advantage. The focus of this study is to highlight the importance of integration of HRM in the firm s business strategies is crucial to maintain sustainable competitive advantages. Human resource (HR) plays an important role in order to improve productivity and competitiveness. A well trained, equipped workforce has been identified as contributing to 325

4 the economic success of an organisation through cost reduction and/ or increased productivity (Holland & Deery 2002, Stone 2005). Thus the linkage between the business strategy and the human resource strategy and its implementation is the need of the day. There should be the right match like lock and key between them. Integration refers to the involvement of HRM in the formulation and implementation of business strategies. Thus alignment of HRM with business strategy is need of today s organisation. Thus in order for HR to be a strategic partner HR should be involved in strategic decision along with other senior managers. The most core and starting point of HRM is its people. What number and type of personnel we have will decide sustainability in the market position. Following strategic goals are needed for sustaining competitive advantage through HR:- (i) To invest in people through the introduction and encouragement of learning processes designed to increase capability and align skills to organizational needs, (ii) To ensure that the organization identifies the knowledge required to meet its goals and satisfy its customers and takes steps to acquire and develop its intellectual capital, (iii) To define the behaviours required for organizational success and ensure that these behaviours are encouraged, valued and rewarded, (iv) To encourage people to engage wholeheartedly in the work they do for the organization. (v) To gain the commitment of people to the organization s mission and values. It is essential to understand the unseparable linkage between HRM and business strategy to achieve these goals. There are so many evidences that integration tends to result in enhanced competence, congruence and cost effectiveness. At the end of the twentieth century, management even has come to realise that peoples are the core determinant of a business enterprise. All the assets of an organization, other than people, are inert.they are passive resources that require human application that is only active to generate value. The key to sustaining competitive advantage is the productivity of the workforce depends on their competencies. 326

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